The Light of the World: A Memoir (2015)

by Elizabeth Alexander

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" In THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Elizabeth Alexander--poet, mother, and wife--finds herself at an existential crossroads after the sudden death of her husband, who was just 49. Reflecting with gratitude on the exquisite beauty of her married life that was, grappling with the subsequent void, and feeling a re-energized devotion to her two teenage sons, Alexander channels her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose that describes a very personal and yet universal quest for meaning, understanding, and acceptance. She examines the journey we take in life through the lens of her own emotional and intellectual evolution, taking stock of herself at the midcentury mark. Because so much of her poetry is personal or autobiographical in nature, her transition to memoir is seamless, guided by her passionate belief in the power of language, her determination to share her voyage of self-discovery with her boys, and her embrace of the principle that the unexamined life is not worth living. This beautifully written book is for anyone who has loved and lost. It's about being strong when you want to collapse, about being grateful when someone has been stolen from you--it's discovering the truth in your life's journey: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's Elizabeth Alexander's story but it is all of our stories because it is about discovering what matters"--… (more)

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Touching love story bidding farewell to her 50-year-old artist-activist-chef husband, Ficre Ghebreyesus http://www.ficre-ghebreyesus.com/painting/ who dies suddenly at fifty. Her poetic and beautiful prose swept me into a special place as I read about their building a life together with their two sons and the familygoing on without him, punctuated with a couple of dynamite recipes for lentils and shrimp from his Eritrean restaurant. Reading it was like being dipped in a spicy oil bath, smarting and soothing at the same time. Alexander read her poetry at Obama's 2009 inauguration and this book was excerpted in The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/lottery-tickets.
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featherbooks | May 7, 2024 |

Beautifully poetic meditation upon grief. Lyrical and moving. Highly recommended for the grieving, or for those who will be. (

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fmclellan | Jan 23, 2024 |

In The Light of the World, Elizabeth Alexander finds herself at an existential crossroads after the sudden death of her husband, who was just 50. Reflecting with gratitude on the exquisite beauty of her married life that was, grappling with the subsequent void, and feeling a reenergized devotion to her two teenage sons, Alexander channels her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose that describes a very personal and yet universal quest for meaning, understanding, and acceptance. She examines the journey we take in life through the lens of her own emotional and intellectual evolution, taking stock of herself at the midcentury mark.

This exquisite memoir is for anyone who has loved and lost. It's about being strong when you want to collapse, about being grateful when someone has been stolen from you. It's Elizabeth Alexander's story, but it is all of our stories because it is about discovering what matters.

A deeply resonant memoir for anyone who has loved and lost, from acclaimed poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Alexander.

The Light of the World is both an endlessly compelling memoir and a deeply felt meditation on the blessings of love, family, art, and community. It is also a lyrical celebration of a life well lived and a paean to the priceless gift of human companionship.

Gmomaj | Apr 18, 2023 |

This memoir on grief is poetic and heartbreaking. It reminded me quite a bit of From Scratch. Both women lost their husbands at a young age. Both women dealt with different cultural backgrounds in their relationships. This one was missing the passion for cooking, but includes a sincere celebration for the small joys in life. It’s heartbreaking that these women had such similar stories to write about.

“For those were the years of amorous love and its fulsome expressions which sustain us through the winter months of marriage.” (

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bookworm12 | Jun 29, 2021 |

An extraordinary memoir about love and loss. Alexander writes about the sudden death of her husband at aged 50, chef and artist Ficre Ghebreyesus. About their empathic relationship, the depth of love they shared, their two young sons, and the loving community of friends and family that surrounded them, and the pain of loss.

I learned about this book from [Ex Libris: 100 books to read and re-read] by Michiko Katutani, one of three books I bought after reading it. See >177 above.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/arts/design/ficre-ghebreyesus.html (

)

Caroline_McElwee | Dec 30, 2020 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Nominee – Nonfiction – 2016)

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Nominee – Nonfiction – 2016)

National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist – Autobiography – 2015)

Pulitzer Prize (Finalist – Biography – 2016)

Distinctions

Amazon's Best Books of the Month (April – 2015)

Boston Globe Best Book (Nonfiction – 2015)

NPR: Books We Love (2015)

Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Nonfiction – 2015)

Notable Lists

365 Books by Women Authors

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection – Nonfiction – 2015)

Vulture's the Best 100 Books of the Century

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2015

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Epigraph

"There is a light within a person of light, and it lights up the whole universe. If it does not shine, there is darkness." -The Gospel According to Thomas

"O beauty, you are the light of the world!" -Derek Walcott, "The Light of the World"

"...the light insists on itself in the world" -Lucille Clifton "The Light That Came to Lucille Clifton

Dedication

For Solomon and Simon, who walk their father's walk

First words

The story seems to begin with catastrophe but in fact began earlier and is not a tragedy but rather a love story.

Quotations

The story begins in 1962, where two women in cotton lawn maternity shifts approach the end of their pregnancies, one in Asmara, Eritrea, and on ein Harlem, USA. The low-hanging moon of impending childbirth governs their days. the ones we may come to love have been born by the time we start longing for them, and so my beloved and I came onto this earth in March and and in May of 1962, halfway around the world from each other. The in 1996 we came together, one family who arrived in Amerca as Eritrean refugees who had never been slaves, the other who landed one hundred, and two hundred, and three hundred years ago, slaves and free, from Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Every beautiful day we lived, every single beautiful day. (p. 43)

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▾Book descriptions

" In THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Elizabeth Alexander--poet, mother, and wife--finds herself at an existential crossroads after the sudden death of her husband, who was just 49. Reflecting with gratitude on the exquisite beauty of her married life that was, grappling with the subsequent void, and feeling a re-energized devotion to her two teenage sons, Alexander channels her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose that describes a very personal and yet universal quest for meaning, understanding, and acceptance. She examines the journey we take in life through the lens of her own emotional and intellectual evolution, taking stock of herself at the midcentury mark. Because so much of her poetry is personal or autobiographical in nature, her transition to memoir is seamless, guided by her passionate belief in the power of language, her determination to share her voyage of self-discovery with her boys, and her embrace of the principle that the unexamined life is not worth living. This beautifully written book is for anyone who has loved and lost. It's about being strong when you want to collapse, about being grateful when someone has been stolen from you--it's discovering the truth in your life's journey: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's Elizabeth Alexander's story but it is all of our stories because it is about discovering what matters"--

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